1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to a digitally controlled VCO (voltage controlled oscillator).
2. Description of the Related Art
Voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) are used in a variety of electronic circuits. One particularly important application using VCOs is in mobile communications, where VCOs are used into the phase-locked loop system to generate the frequency with the desired precision and stability characteristic. VCOs are also used in a variety of other applications.
Typically, the VCO is formed on the circuit board using an LC tank including and inductor and a varactor. In order to ensure that the tuning range of the VCO is wide enough to cover the required bandwidth, and to compensate for the spread of other components, the tank formed on the circuit board is initially fabricated to cover a frequency range in excess of the optimum frequency range. During the manufacturing process, the tank is adjusted to cover an optimum frequency range by trimming the inductance of the tank.
Trimming the tank is a relatively expensive procedure, particularly for mass produced circuits, such as cellular transceivers. Further, trimming procedures require that the tank be formed on the circuit board rather than integrating the VCO on a chipset. This further increases the cost of the circuit using the VCO.
In U.S. Ser. No. 09/815,831, entitled “Electronically Trimmed VCO” to Bisanti et al, filed Mar. 23, 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein, a voltage controlled oscillator is described which uses a bank of switched capacitors coupled to the tank and varactor. This solution provides a number of advantages. First, the need to physically trim the inductor of the LC tank is eliminated. Second, the bank of switched capacitors can be set such that the VCO's free running frequency is close to the desired frequency in order to reduce the tuning range required to the varactor. This provides for fast tuning of a phase lock loop incorporating the voltage controlled oscillator. Third, the capacitor bank can be incorporated on an integrated circuit, reducing the cost of implementing the voltage controlled oscillator. Fourth, the capacitors in the bank can have very small values, providing very precise tuning.
The increase of integration in communication circuits brings the need of designing fully integrated VCOs that are able to cover wide frequency bands despite the high process spread of the on-chip components. Use of the digital trimming allows for a broad effective tuning range of the VCO, while the tuning range attributable to the varactor can remain small. Therefore, a high sensitivity is not required to achieve a broad tuning range. With a lower VCO sensitivity, better noise performances can be achieved and it is easier to integrate the varactor of the tank on an integrated circuit.
However, it is important to perform the digital trimming (calibration) accurately, otherwise, it is possible that the chosen calibration setting will not include the desired frequency within the frequency range of the VCO, which would render the circuit inoperable. Further, if settling time is important, it is desirable to calibrate the VCO such that a minimal change in control voltage is needed to obtain the desired frequency.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a fast, accurate trimming technique.